A recreational vehicle (RV) is a motorized or towable vehicle that combines transportation and living quarters for travel, recreation and camping. RVs have been with us nearly as long as the automobile, and early RVs were typically constructed on a truck or automobile chassis. Originally designed for function, RVs often include a kitchen, a bathroom, and a sleeping area. In North America, RVs are growing increasingly luxurious, and include numerous premium features that are designed at providing maximum comfort for passengers and occupants. Once a weekend toy that was built in backyards and garages by do-it-yourselfers, RVs now include motorized, slideout compartments that, when the RV is parked, expand the usable area inside an RV by extending outward from the RV body to provide additional living space within the RV.
From the beginning, RVs have afforded travelers the ability to easily include outdoor items such as bicycles, patio furniture, barbeques, and other items that can be carried inside or attached to the outside of an RV on its roof or front or rear bumpers, and then set up near the RV at a campsite or other destination. With modern RVs, an extendible shelter of sorts is an added benefit of having slideout compartments; bicycles, barbecues and patio furniture can be placed under extended slideout compartments, which is somewhat useful when there is rain. However, an extended slideout compartment provides only an overhang shelter, leaving items under the overhang shelter still exposed to the elements and/or to the view of casual passers-by.